Woman sues Albuquerque mayor over TNR program

Marcy Britton has started a claim in the courts for monetary compensation for, among other things, losses to the value of her house because those estimated losses have been caused by the numbers of feral cats around or near her house. She claims that the city of Albuquerque is responsible (through the Director of Animal Welfare Department and the Mayor) and has in effect taken her home but failed to pay for it. It is called inverse condemnation in the American judicial system.

It’s disgusting. I mean you come home from work and there are cats on your porch. They get hit by cars. They get poisoned. This is where I live. My property value has been reduced…

The claim is doomed to complete failure. I guess she is peeved and wants to make an expensive statement. She has certainly got some press coverage.

It’s a gruesome, inhumane, illegal, thing to do to any animal…....

She hates TNR, sees it as inhumane and a failure. She regards the presence of feral cats around her home as disgusting and above all, I sense, she is very angry at the devaluing of her house. But she is speculating that her house is worth less as far as I can tell unless she has got an expert's report to support that claim and even that won't carry much weight.

The mayor of Albuquerque is being sued by Marcy. He is Tim Keller, aka the city's chief executive.

The city says that TNR is working in reducing the feral cat population as it does. The city supports TNR and it is the only humane way to manage feral cats. That is the exact opposite viewpoint to Marcy's.

There are however quite a lot of people who don't like TNR and who'd prefer the cats were trapped and killed. Marcy wants that outcome although she suggests some of the cats can be adopted through animal shelters.

I think it is unique to sue a government for running TNR programs or for supporting them or for failing to stop them. I have not seen the entire court claim.

This is just one more battle over TNR. It happens in many US cities all the time. Americans who are interested in feral cats can be divided into 2 groups. Those that support TNR and its humane but slow management of feral cat colonies and reduction in numbers and those that want to essentially trap and euthanise (actually more accurately described as kill).

Source: Various news websites.